Māori organisations in the Counties Manukau community are banding together to erase suicide in the region with a tikanga Māori approach. It's the first Memorandum of Collaboration (MOC) of its kind in the country and was signed today by nearly twenty government and non-government organisations to build strength in numbers to tackle the issue.

Counties Manukau Police are calling on the community to help stamp out the illicit sale of stolen cigarettes. Darryl Evans of Māngere Budgeting Service says a 20 pack of cigarettes costs more than $20, so he isn't surprised people are buying stolen smokes.